British team horse is sold to the US for €1.4m

Top British team horse Dougie Douglas has been sold to the US for a record €1.4m (£990,000).

The sale of Holly Gillott’s Irish-bred 10-year-old set a new Irish record auction price during the Goresbridge supreme sale of showjumpers in Co. Wexford yesterday (10 November).

The chestnut gelding, owned jointly by Holly and Graham Smith, was purchased by Irish agent Barry O’Connor for an American client.

Together Holly and Dougie have made numerous British team appearances — they were part of the victorious British line-up at the Nations Cup in Rome in May. They also featured in the teams in Lummen, St Gallen and at Hickstead in July during the Royal International Horse Show.

The Leicestershire-based rider produced the son of Ard VDL Douglas from a six-year-old, having bought him from the Goresbridge sales. They won the Bunn Leisure Derby Trial at the Hickstead Derby Meeting in June this year.

“It doesn’t feel real yet and hasn’t sunk in but when he goes it will be emotional. Graham [Smith] was very upset last night. We are not sure yet which US rider he has been sold to. He has to have various blood tests today [11 November] before he can travel to the States,” Holly told H&H.

“He is my horse of a lifetime — it was very hard but I think I’ve made the right decision. I’m only 26 years old and that is a lot of money, I’m hoping it will set me up as a showjumper for the future.”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now